Cancellara, who will retire at the end of the season, has been working hard for his Trek-Segafredo team leader Bauke Mollema over the past two weeks.

Cancellara said "it was a hard Tour for me, a lot of stress and I feel tired."

The four-time time trial world champion won seven stages at the Tour and wore the yellow jersey for 29 days. He first made his mark at cycling's biggest event 12 years ago, when he won the prologue in Liege in his first Tour.